Puzzle, “Superman Springs into Action”
Puzzle, “Superman Springs into Action”
Usage conditions apply
- Description (Brief)
- 500-piece jigsaw puzzle featuring Superman. It was produced by the Saalfield Publishing Company in 1940, one of four Superman themed puzzles produced by the company that year. “Superman Springs into Action” measures 16 x 20” when completed, and features the iconic superhero flying over a speedboat of armed gangsters. A nearly identical image, drawn by Wayne Boring, was used for the cover of Action Comics #25 in 1940.
- The character of Superman first flew into action in 1938. The costumed superhero was created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, two Jewish teenagers from Cleveland Ohio, who used, among other things, Classical mythology, philosopher Fredrich Nietzche’s concept of the “uber mensch,” and the era’s popular science fiction and adventure writing, for inspiration.
- With his debut in Action Comics #1, Superman became an instant sensation with audiences, inspired by the “Man of Tomorrow’s” virtue and heroics at time when the Nation was slowly emerging from the economic catastrophe of the Great Depression and moving closer to World War.
- Born on the doomed planet Krypton, Superman was sent to Earth as a child, where our world’s yellow sun granted him extraordinary powers such as flight, super-strength, near-invulnerability, as well as other extraordinary abilities including heat and X-Ray vision. As an adult living in the city of Metropolis, the alien, born Kal-El, protects his identity by assuming the persona of Clark Kent, a “mild-mannered” journalist.
- Fighting for “Truth and Justice,” Superman birthed a cultural fascination with superheroes, and has become one of the most recognizable and influential fictional characters in history. In addition to comic books, the character has been explored in all forms of media, including radio, television, and film, and has been used to promote a variety of successful consumer products, educational initiatives and public service campaigns.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Object Name
- Puzzle, Jigsaw
- Date made
- 1940
- maker
- Superman, Inc.
- Superman, Inc.
- place made
- United States
- Physical Description
- paper (overall material)
- cardboard (overall material)
- ink (overall material)
- Measurements
- overall: 8 3/8 in x 11 in x 1 1/2 in; 21.2725 cm x 27.94 cm x 3.81 cm
- ID Number
- 1987.0213.125
- accession number
- 1987.0213
- catalog number
- 1987.0213.125
- Credit Line
- DC Comics, Incorporated
- subject
- Radio
- Superman
- Games
- Comics
- Puzzles
- See more items in
- Culture and the Arts: Entertainment
- Popular Entertainment
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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